Top-Ranked Razorbacks Host Tigers on SEC Opening Weekend
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – No. 1 Arkansas (14-2) embarks on its 32nd season of Southeastern Conference baseball when it hosts Eastern Division foe Missouri (9-8) for a three-game series on March 15-17 at Baum-Walker Stadium.
First pitch between the Hogs and Tigers on SEC Opening Weekend is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Friday, March 15, on SEC Network+. Game two of the series begins at 2 p.m. Saturday, March 16, on SEC Network+, and the weekend’s finale between Arkansas and Missouri is set to get underway at 2 p.m. Sunday, March 17, on SEC Network.
The top-ranked Razorbacks are riding a season-long 10-game winning streak into this weekend’s matchup against the Tigers in Fayetteville. Arkansas has won six consecutive SEC Opening Weekend series, including five sweeps, since 2017.
SEC Opening Weekend Schedule
Friday, March 15
Missouri vs. #1 Arkansas – 6:30 p.m. – SEC Network+ – Listen – Live Stats
Saturday, March 16
Missouri vs. #1 Arkansas – 2 p.m. – SEC Network+ – Listen – Live Stats
Sunday, March 17
Missouri vs. #1 Arkansas – 2 p.m. – SEC Network+ – Listen – Live Stats
On the Mound
Friday, March 15
Missouri – RHP Logan Lunceford (1-0, 8.36 ERA)
Arkansas – LHP Hagen Smith (2-0, 2.12 ERA)
Saturday, March 16
Missouri – LHP Javyn Pimental (0-0, 2.84 ERA)
Arkansas – RHP Brady Tygart (3-0, 0.90 ERA)
Sunday, March 17
Missouri – TBA
Arkansas – LHP Mason Molina (2-0, 3.57 ERA)
Tune In
Brett Dolan (play-by-play) and Troy Eklund (analyst) have the call of the Arkansas’ entire SEC Opening Weekend series against Missouri on SEC Network+. The weekend series between the Hogs and Tigers can also be heard on the Razorback Sports Network from Learfield, including locally in Fayetteville on 92.1 FM or through the Razorback app, with Phil Elson (play-by-play) and Bubba Carpenter (analyst) on the call. A full list of radio affiliates is available here.
History Lesson
Arkansas owns a 23-15 overall series record against Missouri, including an 11-4 record in Fayetteville. Under head coach Dave Van Horn, the Razorbacks are 14-4 overall and 7-2 in games played at Baum-Walker Stadium against the Tigers.
H. Smith
Arkansas ace Hagen Smith, who is slated to take the mound in Friday’s series opener against Missouri, is 2-0 with a 2.12 ERA and 40 strikeouts in 17.0 innings over four starts this season. The junior left-hander is tied for fifth in the country in total strikeouts (50) and ranks first nationally in strikeouts per nine innings (21.2).
Entering Friday night’s game, Smith has recorded 239 career strikeouts in 166.0 innings of work. His 239 career punchouts rank sixth on Arkansas’ career strikeouts list, and he is five shy of matching Razorback great Blaine Knight (244) for fifth all-time.
Career Strikeouts
1. 345 – Nick Schmidt (2003-06)
2. 301 – Matt Carnes (1979-82)
3. 283 – David Walling (1998-99)
4. 261 – Scott Tabor (1979-82)
5. 244 – Blaine Knight (2016-18)
6. 239 – Hagen Smith (2022-pres.)
7. 232 – Kevin Kopps (2017-21)
8. 229 – Charley Boyce (2003-06)
9. 225 – Gerald Hannahs (1971-74)
10. 224 – Isaiah Campbell (2016-19)
No. 1 in the Polls
For the first time since 2021, Arkansas is back atop the college baseball rankings. The Hogs are the new No. 1 team after earning the top spot in four of the polls, including Baseball America, D1Baseball, Perfect Game and USA Today Coaches.
Arkansas has been ranked in the coaches poll for 97 consecutive weeks dating to 2017. The Hogs, who have been ranked in the top 10 of the coaches poll for 49 of the past 51 weeks, boast a 39-12 record as the No. 1 team in the coaches poll.
SEC Opening Weekend Stats
The Razorbacks, who have opened conference play inside the friendly confines of Baum-Walker Stadium every season since 2017, have won six consecutive SEC Opening Weekend series, including five sweeps.
Arkansas swept Mississippi State in 2017, Kentucky in 2018, Missouri in 2019, Kentucky in 2022 and Auburn in 2023. The Hogs have not lost an SEC Opening Weekend series at home since dropping two-of-three against Ole Miss in 2013.
Good Start
The Hogs are 14-2 through their first 16 games of the 2024 season. Arkansas has gotten off to a 14-2 or better start eight times under head coach Dave Van Horn, including in 2003, 2005-06, 2011-12, 2019, 2023 and now 2024.
Last season, the Razorbacks went 20-2 through their first 22 games. Since 1960, Arkansas has begun 20-2 or better only five times, including three times in the DVH era: 1982 (20-1-1), 1996 (20-2), 2005 (20-2), 2012 (20-2) and 2023 (20-2).
Winning Ways
Arkansas rides a 10-game winning streak into this weekend’s three-game series against Missouri. The Hogs have recorded nine winning streaks of 10 or more games since head coach Dave Van Horn took over at the helm in 2003.
Winning Streaks under DVH
16 – March 7, 2020-March 13, 2021
15 – March 1-28, 2023
13 – April 3-23, 2010
12 – March 5-25, 2022
12 – Feb. 11-March 8, 2005
10 – Feb. 25-pres., 2024
10 – May 16-June 5, 2021
10 – March 4-21, 2012
10 – Feb. 11-March 5, 2003
The Razorbacks’ 15-game winning streak in 2023 was their longest in-season winning streak of the Van Horn era. It was also the longest in-season winning streak in program history since the Hogs won the first 18 games of the 1996 season.
Home Sweet Baum-Walker
The Razorbacks are 12-1 (.923 winning percentage) inside the friendly confines of Baum-Walker Stadium this season.
Last season, Arkansas went 32-6 (.842 winning percentage) at Baum-Walker Stadium. It was the Razorbacks’ fourth 30-win season at home since the stadium opened in 1996. Excluding the shortened 2020 campaign, the Hogs have won 28 games or more at home in six consecutive seasons, including a program-record 34 wins in 2018.
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